Ohio State Crushes Oregon, Wins National Championship In Upset

Ohio State has won the first-ever College Football Playoff
National Championship Game, convincingly beating Oregon 42-20 in
Dallas.

If it wasn't for four Ohio State turnovers, it would have been
even worse.

Ohio State was the better, more physical team. They ran for 296
yards, including a record 246 yards from running back Ezekiel
Elliott. The Ducks just couldn't stop Elliott, who seemed to pick
up a first down every time he touched the ball in the second
half. Ohio State led 21-10 at halftime. Oregon closed the gap to
21-20 after a pair of third quarter turnovers, but Ohio State ran
away with the game after that.

Cardale Jones, the third-string quarterback who was making just
his third-career start, was fantastic aside from the turnovers.
The 6'5", 250-pound QB completed 16 of 23 passes for 242 yards
and a touchdown. When no one was open, he took off running, often
finishing his carries by bulldozing an Oregon defender.

On one run in the third quarter, Jones appeared to be stopped
short of the first down, but he just rammed right through
310-pound Oregon nose tackle Alex Balducci.

It summed up the game:

Ohio State came into the game as a six-point underdogs. They were
underdogs all year: first when starting quarterback Braxton
Miller got hurt before the season, then after they got killed at
home against Virginia Tech, again when second-string quarterback
J.T. Barrett got hurt before the Big Ten Championship game, and
especially against Alabama and Oregon with a third-string
quarterback in the playoff.

They overcame all of those obstacles, improving as the season
went along and peaking at the perfect moment.